This post is way overdue. And yet here it comes just two or three days after another post. Originally planned as a launch for this new website (following the move from http://www.bandofbanjoplayingbadgers.blogspot.co.uk if you’ve not checked out all the old stuff over there yet) to showcase my, at the time, latest cloudcast via mixcloud. I changed the name from Band of Badgers Presents Something Else as that was a pretty pathetic and uncreative title. I wasn’t going to win any awards for that and actually a slap was required to be honest. How I couldn’t have come up with the Jukebox title when I collected together those awesome tunes for #1 I do not know. I’ll blame the Northampton Clown on the rampage as who knew what he was up to? Ok, right, yes. That was months later. Perhaps I can blame the recent scaremongering about these false widow spiders that seem to be everywhere biting and killing folk? No? Months later too. Ah well. Let’s put it down to a creative lull then shall we and be done with it.

When I finally got ready to launch this new website and kick things off with this special show and post featuring music from some amazing bands and artists to be featured in some of my favourite genre TV shows of the last ten or more years (some much more, in fact – no age guesses please, although I did get asked for ID buying alcohol in Morrison’s just this Saturday gone – made my year, naturally), I hit a bollard. What a cool word that is, by the way – bollard. I did get a little carried away so running time is approx 1hr38mins. I just kept spinning them tunes, there are so many great ones.

It really was high time I got myself into gear and sorted another cloudcast. Right from the very beginning I had always had the idea of running a kind of special and this TV Tunes special was a complete geekfest for me. I completely geeked myself out. Geek overload. I may require therapy if anyone has the number of a good therapist? These aren’t theme tunes (well, there are some I guess) but songs from bands and artists who featured in a number of genre TV shows.

INTO EVERY GENERATION A SLAYER IS BORN… BUFFY

It was after catching the last half hour of an episode somewhere mid-way through the show’s third season I was sucked into my own Buffybizarro world (as the character Cordelia once referred to a parallel world – season 3 episode The Wish – you see how much of a geek I am for this stuff?). Although I had absolutely no idea what any of the story arcs were about to a large extent, I could not stop watching this fantastic new show I’d found with its rather impressive blend of tasty alternative indie rock music. Not just that either. As a nineteen year old geek, it was as if creator and show-runner Joss Weedon was somehow tapping into my soul. The rich tapestry of characterisation meant I wanted – no, needed even – to know what was going to happen in their lives. All this after just one bit of one episode. I rode out the remainder of season 3 without the foreknowledge of what came before but eager to launch myself deeper into the world of the slayer and her friends. For me, the mark of a good TV show is the emotions it encourages me to experience throughout each episode, and thus overall. With Buffy, I got the whole range. I remember almost drowning in tears come the end of The Prom. Likewise when later that year and in preparation for the start of season 4 on trusty old Sky 1, I devoured the first two seasons and first half of season 3 courtesy of the video box sets. You read that correctly folks, these were VHS box sets. Didn’t I feel the biz with these. I swallowed them up in such a short space of time and my everlasting link to the Buffy-verse was cemented. Never to be broken.

PAIN – FOUR STAR MARY

BALLAD FOR DEAD FRIENDS – DASHBOARD PROPHETS

BOHEMIAN LIKE YOU – THE DANDY WARHOLS

LUCKY – BIF NAKED

BLUE – ANGIE HART

GOODBYE TO YOU – MICHELLE BRANCH

There really was way too much great music from so many top talented musicians, singer-songwriters and bands. As every fan will tell you in great detail, the band who frequently played at The Bronze and featured as a member the mysterious werewolf Oz (played by Family Guy’s Seth Green) were called Dingoes Ate My Baby. The music they played on-screen however, was all the hard and fabulous work of US band Four Star Mary. I missed them when they toured the UK in, I think, 2008 for which I deserve to be locked in a cellar and left for years to rot! Seriously.

A cool fact that isn’t so much of a useful fact as a totally useless fact but there you go – is that when clicking on to Lauren Laverne‘s Morning Show on BBC 6 Music last week, the first track she played on that particular day was Bohemian Like You by The Dandy Warhols. It’s hearing this that morning which has spurred me into getting this post up. I admit I felt a little bit cool that Lauren played one of the same tunes I did on this show. I do so love her show.

If you listen to the cloudcast (and why would you not?) you’ll notice I’ve included as an inter-link the reprise of Under Your Spell/Standing. This was featured in the musical episode Once More With Feeling. Now I’m not a huge fan of musicals. A shock to some, perhaps. I have enjoyed one or two stage musicals over the years though and I absolutely loved the 2001 film Moulin Rouge. As with pretty much all things, Joss and co really delivered with this endeavour on Buffy. The reprise I’ve played is sung by easily the two strongest vocalists amongst the cast, Antony Stewart Head and Amber Benson. It gives me chills even now, it is so beautiful. Deeply moving, sad and poignant but still so very beautiful.

I can’t leave Buffy without mentioning Tom McRae – a UK singer-songwriter I’ve been following religiously since first seeing him play live in 2003 (not in a stalking kind of way, you understand) – had a song from his debut self-titled album feature in a season six episode. Sao Paolo Rainis above for you to check out. At the time I was getting into Blink 182, their well known hit All The Small Things was featured in a season four episode too. These two alone showcase the stark differences in music, it wasn’t all just the alternative US rock stuff but when it was, it was damn good.

I could quite easily put together a playlist for each individual show and still have loads of songs left over but I thought I’d mix it up a bit and play a few from each instead. I dare say I’ll put together another such playlist together as part 2 of this feature in the future. The way my time is working out at the moment though this could well end up being an annual thing.

FOREVER CHARMED

I’d caught mere glimpses of Charmedwhen my younger sister used to watch it. It wasn’t so much that it didn’t do enough to pull me in but more so I just hadn’t got the time to dedicate to it while it was running. And so for many a year it passed me by. Then, in 2006 I was visiting a friend I met at University and severely hungover after a superb first night of heavy drinking and catching up we ordered a Chinese and he shoved on the last ever episode Forever Charmed. The first big box to be ticked for me was that there was time travel. I know this wasn’t exactly a huge or frequent feature but I am even more a geek for time travel stuff than I am for fantasy. There was the rich mix of characters past and present from the show and the sisters’ lives which further drew me in and hooked me completely.

HOW SOON IS NOW? – LOVE SPIT LOVE

UNTIL I WAKE UP – DISHWALLA

PROMISES – THE CRANBERRIES

BROADWAY – GOO GOO DOLLS

That was it. I started collecting the box sets (we were now in the DVD age, no more clunky and degrading quality VHS) and embarked upon my Charmed journey. The music was superb. Similar to Buffy but perhaps even better at times and more diverse. Already a huge Cranberries fan I was totally gobsmacked when they turned up in an episode as themselves to play at P3. Brilliant. Many a band and musician did the same over the years. It was here I first came to Goo Goo Dolls, I believe and have been a fan ever since. I finally made it to see this band play London’s Hammersmith Apollo last Friday too. AMAZING! Yes they did sing Broadway. Actually thought I was in P3 for a while to be honest.

SOMEBODY SAVE…SMALLVILLE

SAVE ME – REMY ZERO

YOU AND ME – LIFEHOUSE

EVERYTHING – LIFEHOUSE

ACHE – JAMES CARRINGTON

NUCLEAR – RYAN ADAMS

DIRTY LITTLE SECRET – THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS

MY IMMORTAL – EVANESCENCE

Again, I was a late comer to Smallville. October 2007 was when I first delved into season 1 and got instantly hooked. I’d always been a big Supermanfan although I never followed the comics. However, my dad used to when he was a kid and so he ended up borrowing the DVD box sets after I’d finished with them and started the Smallville journey himself. It’s quite a cool thing to have in common with him to be honest. Right from the start the music kicks off in superb style with that theme tune. Taken from Remy Zero’s album Golden Hum it was one of those I just cannot forward through even though watching on DVD with that very option. It just isn’t right. You see, I’m an uber geek. That whole album is brilliant and I listen to it in full even now.

There was no P3 for bands or musicians to perform at but it didn’t stop Smallvillepacking in some pretty impressive music throughout its mammoth ten year run. I rather quite miss it now it is no longer with us. The show bought Lifehouseinto my life for which I’m grateful and who I missed seeing live a few years ago. Fool that I am. I will not allow this folly to persist and when they return to the UK, as return they must, on their next album tour I will be there! In fact, I got so carried away I ended up playing two tracks from this band. The second is a more recent live version of what I think might have been the first song they had featured in the show. It sounds amazing so do check it out. The first song, You And Me has also been played on numerous other US TV series including The Vampire Diaries and Grey’s Anatomy.

This video for Acheby James Carrington is sublime too. I recall hearing it in the show for the first time and being so moved by it. It is such a delicate and stunning song. So heartbreaking too. As was I Grieve by Peter Gabriel which was played over the funeral of Jonathan Kent. You know, as much as I was expecting his death it was still a heart wrencher make no mistake.

You can download a James Carrington album, by the way. It includes two versions of Ache. A must have in my opinion.

CAPESIDE TO THE CREEK WITH DAWSON’S CREEK

I DON’T WANT TO WAIT – PAULA COLE

As I played so many songs from the previous three shows, I was kind of running out of time so all I could fit in from The Creek was the brilliant song the theme tune is taken from. Needless to say there was so much more I could fill several blog posts with tunes. Probably more than that.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES

DREAM – THE BOXER REBELLION

Most recently The Vampire Diaries seems to have taken the baton for featuring tremendous music. There is enough chance alone with there seeming to be some kind of big Mystic Falls community event every other episode. I’m not actually knocking it though to be honest because this is a show I absolutely love when I start watching it. I am way behind though so need to catch up soon.

It was great to get to play a track from Boxer Rebellion who have easily become one of my favourite current bands. I say current bands, they have recently released their fourth album, Promisesfrom which Dreamis taken. They are doing amazingly over in the US, understandably and I’m going to see them in Birmingham next February. That will be a nice pre or post Birthday gig for me to enjoy. I was going to embed the video with the scenes the song featured on in the episode of the TV show but I could be putting myself at risk of being hunted down for spoiling it for any readers who stumble across this but haven’t seen the episode yet. For myself too as I’m yet to even begin season 3.

OUTRO FROM BAYWATCH

I’M ALWAYS HERE –JIMI JAMISON

Oh the memories. The running. And a tune that sticks in the head forever and a day. I visited Venice Beach when I was in LA a few years ago. I did not see one lifeguard.

BEST OF THE REST…

I say best of the rest but there is literally too much for me to be able to even share a few of the best of the rest. These are just a final few I had to include here while I remembered them.

SARAH MCLACHLAN:FULL OF GRACE – BUFFY

Oh the emotions.

RUPERT GILES (ANTONY HEAD) –BUFFY: RESTLESS (SEASON 4)

I wear the cheese, it does not wear me.

THE SUNDAYS:WILD HORSES –BUFFY

ATHLETE:CHANCES – DOCTOR WHO

That’s it for this special little trip down musical memory lane then. More soon I hope and really hope you’ve enjoyed the post. To close before moving on to the something different, here’s the theme tune to a kids programme I got totally obsessed with when I was about 10 years old. Subsequently this show is responsible for my complete obsession with all things time and time travel. I watched this series in its entirety as an adult about 5 years ago and must admit, I really quite enjoyed it.

TOMORROW’S END

(THE GIRL FROM TOMORROW PART 2)

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPELTELY DIFFERENT….THAT’S ACTUALLY THE SAME AS THE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THING FROM THE PREVIOUS POST….WELL, THE EXTENDED CUT BITS OF THAT…